Partnerships The revised language of performance

Why Partner? 1. Increase organizational capacity. Partnerships may also help some grantees expand programming. 2. Engaging New Audiences. 3. Building Organizational Networks. 4. What other advantages of partnerships? 5. Because the funding agencies expected it.

Where the Paths Diverge Francie Ostrower, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Efficiency. Different organizations have different decision-making structures. 2. To obtain grant funds. a. Steven Kerr: On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B. 3. Partnering becomes an end in itself. The assumption that collaboration has intrinsic value and effectiveness. Urban Institute study: 69% of the foundations reported they actively encouraged collaboration among grantees.

Why Aren’t Partnerships More Successful? Insufficient Resources and Funding. Tangential to Mission. Grantees clearly bore responsibility for entering partnerships that were tangential to their missions. Logistical Difficulties. Contention Between Partners. Not usually an even split Although misplaced incentives, inadequate funds, inappropriate objectives, and logistical difficulties certainly mattered, all pointed to a deeper problem.

The aspirations of funding agencies Partnering fulfilled the foundations’ view of how the social sector should operate. Foundations give money, but the philosophy of partnering is that truly committed partners would continue the partnership regardless of funds. Social engineering at it’s best and worst. Having monetized the process, the foundations expect a social result.

Lessons for Forming Partnerships In theory, foundations are right: Partnerships can be a powerful tool for strengthening cultural participation and expanding audiences. 1. Foundations and grantees need to adopt a more hardheaded stance on whether partnering is warranted, given the objective at hand. 2. Planning. 3. Grantees contemplating partnerships would also be well advised to scrutinize the reality of partnering closely. When planning, a non-profit needs be honest about the level of commitment it can offer, whether the partnership really fits its mission, and whether the partnership justifies the resources that it will consume. 4. Account for Costs. Foundations also need to recognize that partnerships are usually less of a bargain than they think. Partnerships involving small organizations are likely to require additional funds to ensure that the organizations’ capacities are not strained by participation.

Approaching Partnerships First: What they want to accomplish substantively? Then think about what incentives and methods will truly bring those ends about. Second: Relinquish the hope that partnering – or any other method – will magically produce cost effective solutions to complex problems or reduce the necessity of making hard choices about accomplishing priorities with finite resources.

National Trust, Working Together (1996) Process of Partnership Development Set expectations Define initial goals Select the right partner Identify areas of mutual interest and define partnership goals Involve the right people Define partnership objectives

Working Together Develop an action plan Actions: Actors: Outcomes Implement a partnership project Evaluate outcome and plan future partnership projects Expand the partnership base.

Learn from Funding Agencies Effective Boards Fill the information gap Building board cohesion Creating the right meeting structure Three constant methods: reviewing original goals and strategies, results to date, lessons learned, and options for moving forward

Principles of Governance 1. Constructive Partnership 2. Mission Driven 3. Strategic Thinking 4. Culture of Inquiry 5. Independent-Mindedness 6. Ethos of Transparency 7. Compliance with Integrity 8. Sustaining Resources 9. Results-Oriented 10. Intentional Board Practices 11. Continuous Learning 12. Revitalization From The Source: Twelve Principles of Governance That Power Exceptional Boards. BoardSource, 2005.